Vortical configurations in mesoscopic superconducting square loop with mixed pairing orders

Department of Physics, Shanghai University - Shanghai 200444, China and Shanghai Key Laboratory of High Temperature Superconductors, Shanghai University - Shanghai 200444, China

Received: 25 March 2020
Accepted: 23 June 2020

Abstract

Based on the microscopic Bogoliubov-de Gennes theory, we study vortical configurations in a mesoscopic superconducting square loop with mixed pairing orders. By choosing appropriate interaction strengths and chemical potential, the spin-triplet p-wave and subdominant spin-singlet d-wave pairing symmetries can be stabilized. In a small external magnetic field, unusual elliptical-like vortices in chiral p-wave orders as well as elongated vortices in the d-wave order tend to form in sample diagonals. For an enlarged flux, we find a two-quanta skyrmionic mode for the p-wave components, while the closed domain wall does not appear compared to the previous studies in superconducting systems with a pure p-wave state. Particularly, a novel multi-skyrmionic pattern containing four single-quanta skyrmions takes place with increasing flux. Such a single-quanta vortex structure consisting of two spatially separated half-quantum vortices is analogous to the nematic skyrmion with unit topological charge. In addition, several complex hybrid or multiple skyrmionic configurations are revealed in the strong flux range.